Processors stay away from Victorian prime cattle sales, ahead of holidays

Charles Stewart livestock consultant Alister Nash said several regular processors did not attend the Mortlake sale.

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Meat & Livestock Australia reported a reduced offering at Mortlake of 552 mixed-quality cattle, down 271 head on the previous sale.

"They (the processors) have all got a few cattle round them, so people held back," Mr Nash said.

"The dairy cow job was cheaper, while beef cows might have been marginally cheaper but there wasn't much in it."

Most of the feedlots bought bullocks, with crossbreds easing in price.

Older bullocks also eased in price, but the rest of the yarding fetched similar prices.

MLA reported cow prices dropped by 10-30 cents a kilogram to a top of $2791 a head, averaging 298-361c/kg.

Trade steers, 351-500kg, sold to a top of 600c/kg, or $2565, while trade heifers sold to $2446 or 596c/kg.

Grown steers, 500kg-plus, sold to 506c/kg or $3294, to average 455c/kg, while heifers sold to a top of 525c/kg or $2818, averaging 440c/kg.

Yearlings went mainly to restockers from between 450-575c/kg, with tops between 588-600c/kg.

MLA reported only a handful of grown steers sold to processors, who paid 435-506c/kg, while restockers paid to 522c/kg with tops at 546c/kg.

There was 730 head of cattle yarded at Barnawartha.

Corcoran Parker Wodonga director Kevin Corcoran said that was less than previous sales, where there had been around 2000 head yarded.

"There was less supply of trade cattle and quite a number of cows, but not the numbers of previous weeks," Mr Corcoran said.

"I would quote the cow market as being 10-20c/kg cheaper, I saw some nice trade bullocks, which made up to 500c/kg.

"There were probably two major players not there, because of Easter, but there weren't the numbers there to really dominate the sale."

Mr Corcoran said Easter and Anzac Day would see a slow down at the works.

"There's no doubt - with the high feeder price - there's been a huge sell off into feedlots," he said.

"I am not just talking 450kg feeders, they are feeding cattle at 500-600kg.

"I believe there will be a huge shortage of kill cattle in the winter and spring."

MLA reported most of the offering was secondary cattle or heavy export types.

"Competition bounced around which reflected the plainer quality, with some yearlings selling into manufacturing," MLA said.

Trade steers made from 585-610c/kg while trade heifer quality improved, with the bulk averaging 510c/kg.

Heavy steers sold to processor competition to average 502c/kg, while bullock prices averaged 471c/kg.